There is a need in the industry for an effective and economical method for recycling residential roofing products, including shingles. There is a large volume of waste created annually in connection with residential roofing products. Over 12 million tons of waste are created annually, with 11 million tons post-consumer tear-off debris and 1 million tons of manufacturers' waste. Contractors spend enormous amounts of money in waste hauling. This waste also is detrimental to the environment, as the asphalt shingles take up a lot of space in landfills and take several generations to decompose. Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for an effective recycling method of residential roofing products.
Additionally, in some of the current methods for recycled asphalt shingle (RAS) blending, there are issues with the viscosity of the resulting mixture. One solution to this viscosity problem is beneficiation (removing deleterious elements such as granules and fiberglass strands from the desired final product of asphalt coated limestone powder) and then producing an ultrafine gradation of the finished recycled components. The present invention provides such a method since the final component product recovered can be less than about 300 microns in size with a mean size of less than about 150 microns.
The present invention overcomes some of the problems associated with current methods of recycling. The present method does not use chemical extraction, which provides a benefit since the use of chemicals in the recycling process can lead to explosions. Prior art methods also use additives to rejuvenate old asphalt. The present method overcomes problems with the prior art by not requiring the use of either chemicals or additives. The present invention uses natural elements to separate and harvest raw materials.